Democrats honored veterans at convention with graphics of ships from … Russian Navy?

posted at 10:01 am on September 12, 2012 by Ed Morrissey

Normally I’d headline this Hot Air-style as “too bad to check,” but as it turns out, I don’t need to check. The American experts on this topic have already checked it out … the US Navy. Writing in the Navy Times, Sam Fellman reports that the backdrop during the Democratic National Convention salute to veterans displayed Russian warships rather than American — and that the Navy can actually tell the difference:

On the last night of the Democratic National Convention, a retired Navy four-star took the stage to pay tribute to veterans. Behind him, on a giant screen, the image of four hulking warships reinforced his patriotic message.

But there was a big mistake in the stirring backdrop: those are Russian warships.

While retired Adm. John Nathman, a former commander of Fleet Forces Command, honored vets as America’s best, the ships from the Russian Federation Navy were arrayed like sentinels on the big screen above.

These were the very Soviet-era combatants that Nathman and Cold Warriors like him had once squared off against.

“The ships are definitely Russian,” said noted naval author Norman Polmar after reviewing hi-resolution photos from the event. “There’s no question of that in my mind.”

One might think that this takes quite a bit of technical expertise … and that’s true, to a point:

For example, the ship in the foreground, on the far right, has a square radar antenna at the top of its masthead. That is the MR-700 Podberezovik 3-D early warning radar, commonly identified as “Flat Screen” for its appearance, a three-dimensional early warning radar mounted on the Kerch, said Eric Wertheim, editor of “Combat Fleets of the World.”

Similarly, the third ship has a MR-310 “Head Net” air search radar, shaped like two off-set bananas, at its masthead and is mostly likely the guided missile destroyer Smetlivyy. The first two ships seem to be Krivak-class frigates, but it’s hard to discern from the silhouette, experts said.

But after that point, it becomes rather obvious, at least to everyone but the oblivious:

But the fact they are Russian ships is not in doubt. In addition to the ship’s radar arrays and hulls, which are dissimilar from U.S. warships, the photo features one more give-away: a large white flag with a blue ‘X’ at the ships’ sterns.

Polmar, who authored “The Naval Institute Guide to the Soviet Navy,” recognized the blue ‘X’-mark: “The X is the Cross of St. Andrew’s, which is a Russian Navy symbol,” Polmar said. (An anchored U.S. warship, by contrast, flies the American flag on its stern.)

How difficult is it to find pictures of ships from the US Navy? The Navy has a Flickr account with thousands of pictures for anyone to use, including a set specific to its ships at sea. For instance, here’s a terrific picture of the USS Abraham Lincoln with F/A-18 Hornets flying formation over it, and two Golden Falcon helicopters firing flares in its wake:

Not everyone knows ship silhouettes, but one might think that the DNC would at least recognize the lack of an American flag on a naval vessel — or at least know to go to official US military sites to get pictures of the US military.

I don’t know if we can go back and check the twittersphere for that day, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this wasn’t somebody’s idea of an inside joke, like playing “Lying B**ch” as Michelle Bachmann’s walk-on music for the Jimmy Fallon show.

If this had happened at the RNC, the “journalists” would be hounding Romney night and day for an apology. Actually, Romney might step up and apologize before that.

But it’s the DNC, and entirely intended, in my view, as an inside joke, and the “journalists” of the mainstream press will display the usual complete lack of interest in this very embarrassing story. Comrade Soetoro certainly won’t apologize for this deliberate hat-tip to Putin.

BTW, even if the “expert” is right about those being F5s, F5s have never been US Navy training aircraft. I’ll give him kudos for knowing the ship radars, but he don’t know airplanes. (The F5 is not used as an USAF training craft, either, though a similar aircraft – the T38 – is a training aircraft.)

BTW, even if the “expert” is right about those being F5s, F5s have never been US Navy training aircraft. I’ll give him kudos for knowing the ship radars, but he don’t know airplanes. (The F5 is not used as an USAF training craft, either, though a similar aircraft – the T38 – is a training aircraft.)

Guess you guys didn’t get the memo.
Hitch hiking on Russian spaceships wasn’t the only thing Obama has arranged. Hitch hiking on Soviet ships will be a part of his second term RESET FLEXIBILITY foreign policy. Just hasn’t been leaked yet.

Actually, the F5s were used as aggressors by the USAF folks at Nellis. The Navy used A4s (Douglas Skyhawks) for their aggressor training back in the day. (Top Gun got that part right.) They have switched to using F14s and F16s (and the USAF has switched to F16s and a few F15s and doesn’t use the F5 anymore), and some FA18s, as well.

Actually, the F5s were used as aggressors by the USAF folks at Nellis. The Navy used A4s (Douglas Skyhawks) for their aggressor training back in the day. (Top Gun got that part right.) They have switched to using F14s and F16s (and the USAF has switched to F16s and a few F15s and doesn’t use the F5 anymore), and some FA18s, as well.